1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to firearms, particularly to an accessory for facilitating loading of firearm rounds into a firearm magazine.
2. Prior Art
Small firearms, including assault rifles and submachine guns, utilize and fire rounds (also known as cartridges or ammunition). A round is a cylindrical body having a rear end and a front and opposite end. The rear part of each round comprises a cuplike case (also known as cartridge), usually of brass, which is filled with an explosive propellant. At its rear or closed end, the case has a rim or flange containing a primer; the opposite end of the case is usually open to receive a bullet, slug, or head, sometimes of lead (optionally jacketed) that is partially inserted into it and held by crimping the case onto the bullet, where the bullet is at the front end of the round.
Another type of round is a ‘blank’ or ‘training’ round that has no bullet at its front end; instead the case is crimped at its ‘bullet’ end to hold in the explosive propellant. Blanks are made for training and practice.
Rounds are held within and fed into the firearm from a magazine, also known as a clip. A detachable magazine has become dominant throughout the world. The term ‘magazine’ is broad, encompassing several geometric variations, including curved magazines. Most detachable magazines are similar, varying in form and structure, rather than in their general principles of operation.
Magazines usually take the form of an elongated container having a generally rectangular cross-section, which the user attaches to the underside of the firearm. They are commonly made of aluminum alloys, plastic, or steel. They are usually closed on five sides and open on a sixth, and are substantially hollow. The open side has a rectangular end and includes two round-retaining members, known as lips.
Magazines have an internal spring, which urges a follower (a shaped piece of plastic or metal) toward the open end. The follower in turn urges the rounds as a group up against the lips. The lips act as a stop for the rounds so that the force from the follower will not expel them from the magazine. The firearm's chambering mechanism then picks off the rounds individually and transports them to a chamber where a firing pin fires them, under control of the user.
In a magazine rounds are stacked or oriented either in a straight column, or in a staggered (zigzag) fashion, also called double-stacking. Staggered magazines have a higher round capacity than straight-column magazines of the same length. The longitudinal axes of the rounds are substantially parallel and perpendicular to the direction of travel of the spring and follower. Adjoining rounds are oriented in the same direction, i.e., the bullets or front ends of adjacent rounds are next to each other, as are the cases.
Magazines of handguns or pistols contain either straight or staggered column rounds, and usually expose just a single, topmost, round between both lips. Such magazines, with a single topmost round exposed between both lips, are not relevant here.
Magazines of assault rifles and submachine guns, such as the AR15/M16, AK47/74-Kalashnikov, FAL, MP5, G36, Galil, Uzi, etc., all hold staggered rounds throughout. In contrast to handgun magazines, two rounds are exposed between the lips, where at the top of the magazine a lip alternately retain the left and right topmost round, as the staggered rounds are fed up and picked off.
Prior to use, a firearm magazine must be loaded (charged or filled). When the user loads a magazine, it is necessary to depress all previously loaded rounds before an additional round can be inserted. Each time another round is loaded, the user further compresses the spring, requiring more insertion force. When the user fully loads the magazine, the spring is fully compressed and exerts maximum upward force.
Loading magazines is a relatively time-consuming and tedious practice. Much time is required to load a plurality of magazines. This shortens reposing, training, and combat time. In combat circumstances, slow reloading can be life threatening.
Some internal military and police procedures instruct that each magazine be periodically unloaded and reloaded for general inspection and cleaning of the rounds and magazine. Therefore, volume loading of hundreds and thousands of magazines periodically occurs at military and police armories. In addition, volume loading occurs at combat time, military drills, and at shooting ranges throughout the world. In all, users waste immeasurable time in magazine loading.
The common method of loading magazines is the straightforward “push-down” method. The user places one or more rounds longitudinally in parallel with and between the lips of the magazine. Then the user successively forces round(s) inside the magazine, thrusting down the topmost round to slip past the retaining lips, to be locked by them. The user may perform this method with bare fingers. However, the drawbacks are as follows: (1) Using one's bare fingers to force rounds against the spring pressure often is painful, especially where the thumb is repeatedly used. As more rounds are loaded, increased loading force is required against the compressed spring. Pain intensifies if multiple magazines are loaded, if the weather is cold, or if the user loads a magazine with injured fingers. (2) Bare finger loading is slow and cumbersome, especially with an untrained user.
Therefore, since much volume loading is required and bare finger loading is a tedious and painful practice, numerous attempts have been made to provide loaders for quickly loading a plurality of rounds into a magazine. They fall into two categories: (1) accessories for loading a plurality of bound rounds, and (2) accessories for loading a plurality of loose rounds.
In the first category, accessories for loading bound rounds, such as the common set of ten rounds bound with a metal or plastic retainer strip (also called a stripper clip), are shown in the following references: U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,483 to Musgrave, Sep. 29, 1981; U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,371 to Howard, Sep. 3, 1985; U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,511 to Csongor, Mar. 11, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,402 to Csongor, Nov. 17, 1987; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,171 to Sally, Sep. 23, 1997.
Further, The Beta Company of Georgia shows at its web site:
http://www.betaco.com/cmag—m16_catalog_new.htm a “Speed Loader” (item LCMS10) for loading ten-round retainer strips. They load one strip at a time using a plunger.
However, loaders for bound rounds are irrelevant where loose rounds are available.
In the second category, the following references show accessories for loading a plurality of loose rounds:
U.S. Pat. No. 1,786,537 to Holek, Dec. 30, 1930, describes an apparatus for loading four rounds on each feeder stroke. Such apparatus is therefore inefficient for volume magazine loading. Also it is slow to use, comprises many parts, and is relatively fragile.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,834,137 to Kunz, May 13, 1958, the Howard patent, supra, and a similar loader accessory by IMI Israel, found at the following site:
http://www.vectorarms.com/accessoriesUZI.htm (“SPEEDLOADERS” section, item “9 mm, speed loads”) all describe a magazine loader for loading a group of loose rounds into a magazine using the pushdown method. However, these devices are relatively fragile and slow to use, and are inefficient for volume magazine loading.
Further, The Beta Company shows at its site:
http://www.betaco.com/cmag_m16_catalog new.htm (item LCMPP05) a device for loading a plurality, usually five to ten, loose rounds. The user drops rounds into the body through a side hole, and simultaneously presses them into the magazine using a top plunger. Again, these devices are slow to use and are inefficient for volume magazine loading.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,403,012 to McPheters, Jul. 2, 1946, describes a magazine loader for loading a magazine in one stroke. However, this loader comprising many parts, has a hinged lid that must be closed on the rounds, and appears relatively flimsy.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,451,521 to Uglum, Oct. 19, 1948, describes a magazine loader using a vertically reciprocating plunger operatively coupled to a turning crank and a handle for individually loading a round on a turn of the crank. However, this loader comprising many parts, is complex, and is tedious to load.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,659,173 to Capito, Nov. 17, 1953, describes a magazine loader where rounds are serially loaded into a substantially closed container before the user thrusts them into a magazine. However, this loader is uncomfortable to use, comprises many parts, and is not suited for volume magazine loading.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,024 to Skoff, Apr. 25, 1961, describes a loader for a tubular magazine comprising a closed container with a spring which forces the rounds out and a lever for releasing the rounds from the container. However, this loader is uncomfortable to use, comprises many parts and is not suited for modern magazines.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,052 to Brown et al, Sep. 30, 1986, describes a magazine loader for loading a plurality (usually 15–20) loose rounds in one stroke. However, this loader comprises many parts, has a swingable lid to close on the rounds, and is not sufficiently rugged to sustain prolonged use in military environment. Further, the installed rounds cannot be thoroughly inspected and cleaned while in the loader and before loading.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,829 to Miller et al., Nov. 14, 1989, describes a magazine loader comprising a crank for turning and loading rounds. However, this loader comprises many parts and is complex and tedious to use.
EP0 patent 205,661 to Samet et al., Dec. 30, 1986, describes a loader for loading a plurality of rounds into a magazine. However this loader includes many parts, has a swingable lid that closes on the rounds, is uncomfortable to use, and is not sufficiently rugged for field use.
DE patent 3,720,496 to Lembit, Jan. 5, 1989, describes a device for loading multi-shot magazines. However this device includes many parts, is uncomfortable to use, and is not sufficiently rugged.
In sum, while there exist many accessories for facilitating magazine loading, each has one or more drawbacks, including flimsiness, and complexity of construction and use.